Snow--and cold. For those of you living in other areas of the world you probably don't find yourself worrying about frostbite while your kids trick-or-treat. This year in Aspen we are looking at sub zero weather resulting in some last minute costume re-thinks.
Also Indy pass is closed for the season---I got the dogs out there yesterday for some first tracks. The pups always like fresh terrority, and yesterday was good fun--today I might give it a go again but my thin blood might not be ready for the snow and the cold.
Hockey has begun with a weekend in Denver---and 'our' first 6 AM puck drop. I say 'our' because sadly my 13 year old daughter can't drive to the games so I also get the 4:45 AM wake up. This has to be character building right?
I did listen to an interesting book on the commute to Denver---It's called Limitless Mind. While I take much of what the author has to say with a grain of salt, I found some good stuff in it. One thing I really liked is the brain science behind how much more you learn from mistakes, and struggling with problems.
Which brings me back to the school board and all the weirdness surrounding it. The past superintendent, like something out of a zombie movie decided to leap out of retirement with a scary letter to both papers attacking my wife. He accused her of hysterically trying to sever his head from body in a BOE meeting with an angry shaking finger.
Sidebar---I know some of the folks who are against my wife's BOE candidacy have tried to use my blog to damage her (my last post was widely circulated as "OMG even her husband doesn't want her to win".)
To that I say " please get a sense of humor."
But back to Maloy strangeness. Bettina's actual comment was that the fish rots from the head down. Yes, in that analogy Maloy is the head, and removing it is the solution to stop the rot, but to whinge on about civil discourse while calling a woman hysterical, and misquoting her seems a wee bit unprofessional. Maloy also seems totally tone deaf or out of it when he believes his trump card is that my wife didn't reach out to him. While Maloy did reach out to many other APAC members, he seemed to find a straight shooting female business executive just too much. That is hardly my wife's fault. He also complains that his daughter's only crime was being related to him---of course that isn't a crime, but it is the definition of nepotism when you are the head honcho. I (and any governance expert) would suggest that a good leader who wanted the best for their kids would encourage them to take their first job at any company other than the one they run. Which is the point--Maloy was a horrible leader--he lead by fear, intimidation, and retaliation (see either the results of the climate study or his recent attack on Bettina).
To recap, he hired a disbarred criminal with no relevant HR experience to be his head of HR and gave her an unsecured loan (she has since declared bankruptcy), oversaw wonky finances included a line item labeled miscellaneous which makes up 8% of the total budget, high teacher and principal turnover, and declining test results and couldn't countenance a conversation where he took any ownership or responsibility. He demands positive spin to boot. Per Limitless Mind good leaders can admit mistakes and learn from them. Ditto students need to be encourage to take risks, push themselves and make mistakes---that is where deep learning comes from. You should expect to see that trait from the superintendent--instead we had a thin skinned leader who wouldn't hear anything but positive reports.
I have no clue how this will be spun to attack myself or Bettina, but I am sure some Aspenites will find some surprising and creative venues. Might I suggest something related to my not so good looks and lack of sleep as a humours rejoinder. Either way have at it, I don't mind and love a good laugh.
Tune the skis and strengthen the legs---it's about time to make some turns and move on from the school board campaign.
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